By default, a subscription membership keeps billing until someone cancels it. If you sold a 6-month package or a one-time charge, you can set the membership to stop on its own after a set number of billing cycles. This article is for practice Owners and anyone whose role has been given permission to edit memberships.
Before you start
You need to be an Owner. By default, only Owners can edit memberships. Your practice can extend this to Office Admins and Providers under Settings > Access & HR > Custom Permissions.
This applies to Subscription memberships. Beauty Savings Account (BSA) memberships work differently and don't use billing cycles.
Know how long the membership should run and how often it bills. You'll set both on the same screen.
Important: Changing this setting only affects patients who enroll after you save. Patients already on the membership keep the terms they signed up under, so this won't stop or shorten anyone's current subscription.
How to set a membership to end after a certain number of billing cycles
Go to Settings > Catalog > Memberships.
Find the membership you want to change and click Edit on the right side of its row.
Click through to the Billing step. Editing a membership walks you through four steps — Basic Info, Coupons, Discounts, and Billing — and everything about renewal lives on the last one. You can click Billing at the top to jump straight there, or click Continue through each step.
Note: This is the step most people miss. If you only see fields for the membership name and price, you're still on Basic Info.
Set How often should patients be billed? Pick Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly, Every 6 months, or Annually — or choose Custom to charge every set number of days, weeks, months, or years. This matters for the next step, because a "billing cycle" means one of whatever you pick here.
Under How long does this membership last?, select Ends after and enter the number of billing cycles.
Check the Billing preview on the right. It shows what a patient enrolling today would be charged and when the membership ends, so you can confirm the math before you save.
Click Update Membership to save.
How many billing cycles do I need?
The number of cycles depends on the billing frequency you chose in step 4. Multiply the length of the term by how often it bills:
A single, one-time charge: 1 billing cycle, at any frequency.
6 months, billed monthly: 6 billing cycles.
A year, billed monthly: 12 billing cycles.
A year, billed quarterly: 4 billing cycles.
12 weeks, billed weekly: 12 billing cycles.
If you're unsure, set the number and read the Billing preview — it will tell you the end date.
Common issues
I clicked Edit but I don't see anything about end dates.
You're most likely still on the Basic Info step. The renewal settings are on the Billing step, which is the fourth and last one. Click Billing at the top of the Edit Membership screen.
I set the cycles, but a patient is still getting billed.
The setting applies to new enrollments only. Anyone who signed up before you saved is still on the old terms, and you'll need to cancel or adjust their subscription individually from their patient record.
There's no Edit link, or the membership won't save.
Only Owners can edit memberships unless your practice has extended that permission. Ask an Owner to make the change, or to add your role under Settings > Access & HR > Custom Permissions.
I want patients to commit for a few months but keep renewing after that.
That's the Minimum commitment setting, not the end date. Leave "Ongoing - no end date" selected and set "Must stay for at least [N] billing cycles" instead. That controls how long a patient has to stay before they can cancel through the Patient Portal, while the membership keeps renewing.
I need to change the terms without affecting current members.
Since edits only apply to new enrollments, current members are already protected. If you'd rather keep the old membership available and offer new terms alongside it, create a second membership with the terms you want.